Business · Companies · 11 hrs ago
German consumer group challenges Trade Republic over interest offer
The Baden-Württemberg consumer centre has issued another warning to Trade Republic over the broker’s interest offer.
Customers receive interest on cash in their accounts only if they activate the offer in the app.
The consumer group says this requirement is not made clear enough and that customers are not told in advance how their money will be divided between partner-bank accounts and money market funds.
Trade Republic says the activation requirement is clearly explained on its app and website.
The offer pays 2.5% interest, but money held in money market funds does not have the same deposit protection as money in bank accounts.
The dispute is about clear information and customer protection for people using the popular savings feature.
The sources do not say what Trade Republic will do next.
The Consumer Advice Centre Baden-Württemberg has issued another warning to Trade Republic over details of the broker’s interest offer.
The group says customers are not clearly told that they must activate the interest credit to receive interest.
It also says customers are not told before depositing money how it will be divided between partner-bank accounts and money market funds.
Trade Republic says the activation requirement is clearly and unambiguously shown in its app and on its website.
The offer pays 2.5 percent on cash deposits, matching the European Central Bank deposit rate, according to the article.
- Who
- The Consumer Advice Centre Baden-Württemberg and Trade Republic.
- What
- The consumer group issued another warning over the broker’s interest offer, challenging how its terms are disclosed.
- When
- The warning was announced on Thursday, 15 October 2026.
- Where
- The dispute is in Germany.
- Why
- The consumer group says customers may miss the activation requirement and are not told in advance how deposits are divided between bank accounts and money market funds.
Consumer Advice Centre Baden-Württemberg
Trade Republic
Activation requirement
Consumer Advice Centre Baden-Württemberg
The group says the requirement to activate interest is not presented transparently and may be easy to overlook.
Trade Republic
The company says the requirement is clearly and unambiguously shown in its app and on its website.
Deposit allocation
Consumer Advice Centre Baden-Württemberg
The group says customers should be told before depositing how their money will be divided between partner-bank accounts and money market funds.
Trade Republic
Not stated in the article.
Trade Republic has paid interest on customer deposits held in its settlement accounts.
The two parties agreed to a settlement, according to the article.
The Consumer Advice Centre Baden-Württemberg announced that it had issued Trade Republic another warning.
- Interest rate
- 2.5 percent
- European Central Bank deposit rate
- 2.5 percent, according to the article
- Customers with at least €100 deposited who activated the product
- More than 92 percent, according to a Trade Republic communication cited by the consumer group
- Trade Republic customer base
- More than 10 million across Europe, according to the article
- Potential customers who may not have activated the offer
- Around 800,000, inferred by the article from the cited figures
What people are saying
Trade Republic advertises 2.5 percent on deposited money without qualification at the front. But the information about the necessary activation is then hidden behind a very inconspicuously designed field.
In our view, the design is intended to make it easy for users to overlook the activation. This gives Trade Republic an unjustified financial advantage.
We continue to emphasize that the requirement to activate interest is clearly and unambiguously shown in the app and on the website.